WHAT IS NOW ENGLAND'S DUTY? IS IT NOT, PRE-EMINENTLY, TO ATTEMPT TO EVANGELIZE THE WORLD? LONDON: PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR, MDCCCXLVIII. O Holy Spirit of the Living God let my soul be constantly hanging upon Thee in prayer: Let every thought and wish and desire of mine spring from Thee: Let every word and look and action of mine be guided by Thee. Let my will be absorbed in Thine-for Jesus Christ's sake. The aim of every sermon should be To proclaim salvation by grace through faith in Christ. To humble the sinner. God has promised to forget the sins of believers. Christ on the Cross will be for man the great thought of Do you desire to study to advantage? Let devotion accompany all your studies. Consult God more than your books, and ask Him with humility to make you understand what you read. Study fatigues and drains the mind and heart. Go from time to time to refresh them at the feet of Jesus. Interrupt your application by short but fervent and ejaculatory prayers. Science is a gift of the Father of lights. Therefore do not consider it merely as the work of your own mind or industry. Written by Vincent Farrer, at Valencia, WHAT IS NOW ENGLAND'S DUTY? IS IT NOT, PRE-EMINENTLY, TO ATTEMPT TO EVANGELIZE THE WORLD? In these comparatively peaceful and, thank God, happy times, when all the world is kept in a state, not of perfect quiet, but of tolerable order, by the fear of a visitation from an English fleet, what does the great Ruler of all things require that this nation shall make our principal aim? Of course our first daily duty is the worship of him in prayer, and especially to rejoice on his own peculiar day, in his wondrous love, manifested in the gift of his Son, when returning from his house, we can joyfully say, "We have not kept back thy loving mercy and truth from the great congregation." But the possession of innumerable ships and seamen and maritime stations, and almost boundless power, in the science of our artisans, and the valour and hardihood of our indomitable defenders, most certainly point out very significantly what is the expectation of the great Jehovah. His call upon us, and by his extraordinary gifts it is a loud one, is for missions. And many of our people have answered nobly to the call, although the men that have done so constitute only a very small fraction of the community. The greater part of the remaining millions are also exhibiting surprising energy, and enduring long hours of toil for very worthless objects. What advantage is it to an immortal being, who must change his abode soon, and may be put in his grave to-morrow, that he should be able to say, I am a penny richer to-day than yesterday? Doing good to others as well as himself is a noble object. But grovelling on from day to day, with no object but to eat and drink, to amuse and pass the time in adding to a heap that another man will soon squander, is not the act of a rational being. There are millions of men that have never heard of the name of Jesus-thousands, it is feared, even in England, and fully half of all the rest of mankind. Let us therefore up and be doing! Surely a few pence, or pounds when able, will be well spent in such a cause, and bring eventually a rich harvest of blessings upon the cheerful giver. For the Bible tells us that God loves to have such men to worship him. O let one and all begin to give. Englishmen are born to be generous givers. Begin and you will soon learn that to give freely is the greatest of enjoyments, next to loving much, and will be sure to bring a double blessing. Begin by giving what you can well spare from your income. If in business, lay by a small part of your supposed profits every Saturday night; and once a month take it to some one that will undertake the work which you perhaps have not time for seeking and trying to save lost souls. "The liberal deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things shall he stand." Isa. xxxii. 8. One of the most excellent of our institutions is The Church Missionary Society, which has done a world of good, with an income, of late years, of 100,000%. It would be money well bestowed to double or treble that amount. The London, the Wesleyan, and the Moravian Missionary Societies, are all also well worthy of support. But the Church Missionary is my favourite, knowing well the men. And I would also give freely to the Church Pastoral Aid, the child of the excellent F. Sandoz, and the truly noble and Rev. John Harding; also to the London City Mission; also the Bible · Society, the Home and Colonial Infant and Juvenile School Society, the Rev. Joseph Baylee's Theological College at Birkenhead, the Rev. F. Close's Normal School at Cheltenham, &c. &c. The last named is one of very prime import ance. Almost all healthy persons, in a prosperous community like ours, can earn more than necessary demands require. A proportion should be saved, to accumulate, as all prudent persons will agree. The remainder we may allowably allot to our own pleasure and relaxation from care, but not till we have assisted him that needeth, remembering the Saviour's words, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." I have always thought that none of our clergy preach half enough of charity sermons. All the money collected by them, with all the contributions to the whole of our excellent charitable |
